The Golden Rules
The Golden Rules of NANI are aimed to support local initiative in the travel industry. We are not just the visitors of this island but of the planet. Those rules have been elaborated based on the UN SDG and adapted to our Polynesians Islands.
- Love marine life
Before diving in, think about protecting your skin with a reef safe suncreen – a gesture for your body, the ocean and all the marine life!
– When possible prefer activities with the minimum noise pollution (snorkeling, kayaks, paddle boards…)
– Avoid touching living corals (the colored ones) or any animal in the ocean
– Avoid all activities modifying the natural behavior of animals like feeding
– Admire all you see but take nothing: corals, shells… the ocean is their home!
– Don’t throw anything from a boat or from land, especially cigarette butts
– Use reef safe sunscreen
Why ?
– Noise pollution can affect survival and reproduction of all the underwater life
– Coral are living beings that already suffer from global warming, they don’t need to get intoxicated by chemicals or to be walked on!
– Only zoo animals need humans to get their food, wild ones learn how to get their food from an early age so let’s preserve their natural behavior!
– By touching animals or corals you can remove a protective layer of mucus helping prevent diseases
– Even dead, corals and shells can serve as a substrate on which new corals can grow, provide habitat for baby fishes or hermit crabs
– One cigarette butt only contains more than 4000 different chemicals and pollutes 500 liters of water
- Protect our terrestrial biodiversity
French Polynesia is home to a rich and unique biodiversity that needs to be preserved thus appreciated with the very least impact.
– At night, turn off all the unnecessary lights to avoid light pollution
– Admire all our flowers and plants but don’t pick anything you don’t know
– In the mountains and valleys, keep all your trash with you, even food waste
– Clean up your shoes each time you are back from a hike
– Never transport any plants, fruits or seeds from an island to another
Why ?
– Light pollution can affect some protected birds species, disoriented by light pollution
– A lot of flowers, ferns and trees are protected species because it is endemic, threatened or both
– Food waste can increase rat’s population and as an invasive species, they are a major threat to endemic trees and birds
– Shoes can help spreading seeds from invasive plants and trees or fire ants, a huge threat to endemic trees and birds
– Harmful insect and plants species could be spread through fruits, plants or seed transportation
- Reduce, reuse, recycle
Adopt alternative solutions that have the least impact on the environnement – prefer a reusable bottle, bamboo straw or a reusable bag to single use plastics.
– Don’t accept single-use plastics (coffee sticks, dishes, plastic bags)
– Always bring a reusable bottle and if you have to buy a drink like a soda, prefer cans than plastic bottles
– Use 0 waste products: solid shampoo, soap or toothpastes, bamboo toothbrushes…
– When possible, reuse or recycle things instead of throwing them and if you must, always sort your waste
Why?
– Each year, 13 million tons of waste goes from land to the sea, killing more than a million birds and 100 000 marine mammals
– Plastic is the worst kind of trash: it turns to microplastics that become part of the food chain with all its toxic, neurotoxic, immunotoxic, carcinogenic and endocrine disrupting effects.
– 160 tons of waste are buried each day on the island of Tahiti in a landfill center that will soon be saturated, requiring to find a new place to bury all the garbage.
- Reduce your ecological footprint
Swap the jet ski for a traditional sailing pirogue ! Pick an activity or a product that will leave the very least impact on the environment
– Turn off the water when washing your hair or brushing your teeth
– Buy local products as much as possible to reduce CO2 gas emissions due to imported products
– Reduce your electricity consumption as much as possible and prefer activities with low CO2 gas emissions
Why?
– Freshwater is a precious and fragile resource. Our islands are very vulnerable to freshwater shortage or contamination of water sources
– Reducing CO2 emissions is a priority for us, using low carbon means of transports during our expeditions and offering to compensate your carbon emissions through Greentripper
- Pick up natural products
when you buy handcrafted products, you buy a piece of heart; you buy a local artisan his time, allowing him to live from his passion and create more things you love.
– Avoid any silicon, paraben, oxybenzone or octinoxate in your cosmetics
– Prefer organic and biodegradable products
Why ?
– Chemicals act as endocrine disruptor, it can also have neurotoxic, immunotoxic, and carcinogenic effects. Due to a poor water treatment system in islands, it can provoke coral bleaching, marine life infection, DNA damages, reproduction defects and death.
- Say Ia ora na and Mauruuru
Being polite is valued in every country. Those two magic words, “Hello” and “Thank you”, even better if you say them in Tahitian, will bring a smile on every face you meet !
– Adapt to local customs, speak a few Tahitian words, immerse yourself in our culture.
– Avoid touching sacred objects and entering sacred places when advised
*Ia ora na litteraly means “I wish you life” and is used to say “Hello”; Mauruuru means “Thank you”
Why?
– Sustainable tourism is not only about protecting our the Planet, but also about respecting, reconnecting, sharing with the Humans.
We want you to fully connect with our traditions and become the international ambassadors of our culture.